Vaccinations may be used to prevent and/or reduce the effects of diseases in living creatures. They may be administered in different stages of the life of a human or an animal, depending on the type of disease the vaccine is designed to prevent or treat. In poultry for example, some vaccines may be administered the first day a chick hatches, while others may be administered when the chicks are several weeks old, and in some cases when they are several months old.
Animal vaccination typically involves vaccinating many animals at a substantially same time. The animals may all be part of a same herd or flock, and may sometimes include animals from neighboring herds (or flocks), which may sometimes number into the hundreds and even the thousands. Mass vaccination devices are frequently used to perform these vaccinations, the majority of these devices generally configured for automatic or semi-automatic operation.
An example of a mass vaccination device is described in WO 2004/101060 A2, “AUTOMATIC INJECTOR FOR MASS INJECTIONS”, which describes “an injection assembly adapted to be carried by a user for mass injection of a medical material. The assembly comprises dosing unit (100.1) adapted to push predetermined doses of the medical material, propelling means adapted to actuate the dosing unit, means for supplying the medical material, controller (200), and automatic injector (500) that comprises housing, movable needle that can be housed or protruded so as to discharge the medical material received from the housing unit. Contact sensor and positioning sensor delivers information to the controller (200) and the controller (200) orders the propelling means as well as the dosing unit (100.1) and the needle to automatically push the medical material. The assembly can be provided with means for supplying antiseptic material in order to disinfect the needle between injections and in case of injecting humans, the assembly comprises a needle magazine so as to change the needles. The apparatus can be provided with electronically or physical marker for recording”.
Another example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,796,964 B2, “AUTOMATIC VETERINARY MEDICAMENT DELIVERY SYSTEM”, which describes “an electrically powered, plunger-free, valve-free adjustable veterinary delivery system for the administration of veterinary pharmaceuticals or vaccines to a variety of poultry or livestock. The delivery system includes a rechargeable battery positioned to power an electric motor which is used to actuate a peristaltic pump that propels pre-determined quantity of fluid medicament through the system for delivery. The system teaches adjustable dosage control of the fluid medicament by means of an electronic control unit which uses photo-optic sensor to calibrate dosage. The veterinary delivery system includes several hand-held injection devices from which to choose, depending on desired use, each having a push-button trigger, at least one needle, a headlight, signal lights, optional dye marking means, and an optional mixing chamber for mixing medicaments at the time of delivery of the medicament, the hand-held injection devices being easily connected and disconnected by means of quick connect fluid couplers for being in fluid communication with the system and a nine-pin amp electrical connector for being in electronic communication with the control unit”.
A third example of a mass vaccination device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,802,541, “POULTRY VACCINATION APPARATUS AND METHOD”, which describes “an apparatus for providing multiple vaccinations of poultry simultaneously is described. A neck injection, breast injection, two wing injections, and an eye mist or drop may be performed in one operation. The apparatus holds the bird in position for precise location of injections, thereby reducing wasted vaccine. The risk of injury to the bird during the process is minimized by greatly reducing the manual handling of the bird during vaccination. Vaccination costs are also reduced by the reduction of labor otherwise required in this process”.
Other examples of mass vaccination devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,949,746; 6,858,020; US 2006/0247578 A1; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,762.